Back to the Start
by Jax Solo
Summary: IM3 Remix! Andy Stark goes to Malibu to have Christmas with her brother, but his demons may prove to undo everything they've rebuilt between them. Andy/Tony bro-sis fluff, continued Andy/Cap from Live to Rise.
1. Prologue: Now and Then

**A/N: **Hello all my lovely readers! I did promise a start to this, and see how I've delivered? I'll admit maybe this is a bit soon, but it's at least a start, right? As a famous man once said, drop your socks and grab your Crocs, we're going to get wet on this ride.

* * *

**Prologue: Now and Then**

_Now: January 2013, Avengers Tower, New York_

"Knock knock, Doc."

Bruce Banner looked up at me, and I managed a bit of a smirk as I leaned in his open doorway. Behind him, New York was still clogged up with snow, turning the steel and glass into ice. Nice to look at, after everything that had happened only a couple weeks ago, and it was making it harder for me to sleep at night. Unlike Tony, for some reason. Whatever.

"Andy, come on in," Bruce insisted, and with that invitation I straightened up and sidled into his lab/office. Bruce himself cleared some things away while I looked around with a bit of a sigh.

"Kinda hard to think all this would've gone to a bunch of other researchers if Loki hadn't come around, huh?" I asked, more to myself than to Bruce, as I collapsed in a chair and tugging a little at my thick dark hair. "And then…everything."

"To you, maybe," Bruce said calmly as he settled nearby. "In a way it still is."

"Hey, be grateful you don't pay rent," I tried to joke, getting him to smile. "I'm still trying to get the place cleaned up, prepped for SHIELD support to move in. Top levels are still getting remodeled, and sometimes I hate it here enough I go out to Long Island but _there_ there's five thousand and thirty-five other things to worry about…"

"…so go stick yourself to Tony for a while," Brice suggested, and I dropped my gaze quickly, shifting uncomfortably. "He…did mention something had happened, after the whole…thing."

"Mina told me you fell asleep through most of his retelling," I said, still with my head bowed but managing a bit of a lip twitch that could have been read as a smile. Really it was more like a grimace, a fresh wound that was hurting all over again. I heard Bruce chuckle a little.

"Okay, yes, maybe I need a refresher. I did see a lot of it on the news, so no worries there."

"But it can't just be the quick-and-dirty retelling, that'd be dumb," I retorted. "Might as well just tell as much as I can. It's the only way you'll get why…things happened."

"Does it start in ninety-nine at a conference in Switzerland?" Bruce asked, and that time my snicker was genuine. I looked up at him, the slight smile he was offering me getting mirrored onto my face.

"No, thankfully. Actually it starts up in my place, a week or two before Christmas."

* * *

_Then: December 2012, Avengers Tower, New York_

"Okay, Mina, show me the scans, I know you've been sitting on them all day before my lovely vacation," I declared to the newly-refurbished penthouse sitting near the top of what was formerly Stark Tower in midtown Manhattan. I had an amazing view of the Chrysler Building not five blocks away, though it was blocked by a lot of cranes that were still working on rebuilding New York after Loki and his Chitauri friends flew down through a wormhole six months ago. The view didn't matter, because I had the windows blacked out so the hologram copy of me was clearly visible.

"You're not going to like it," Mental Imaging Network Artificial – Mina – informed me uneasily as the image formed. On the surface, it was a complete copy of me: five-six, dark hair, light eyes, arc-reactor glowing in my sternum an inch or so below my collarbone. But I watched with a frown as Mina faded out the skin layer, down to muscle and bone. Instead of typical red and white, most of my innards were silvery in color: silver-red muscles, silvery bones, even my veins were silver. Well, veins of a sort. Some of them remained spindly and thin, but they wove through my body all the way back to the arc-reactor. Most of them were down my arms, collecting in the muscles of my palms as mirror-like arrays. Some experimentation had revealed that these arrays did indeed act like repulsors; hence some of the refurbishment work.

"How bad?" I asked as Mina began highlighting areas of interest: the reactor, my brain, and some more minor places I wasn't too worried about.

"Forty-five percent metallic in nature, though your weight hasn't increased on account of it," Mina reported. I nodded a little; that wasn't much changed from the forty percent last month. "I think it's holding steady; the serum should hopefully be done…fine-tuning you by now."

"Forty-five still leaves me mostly normal," I agreed, circling the hologram slowly. "Reactor?"

"It's been integrated into your biology," Mina reported, earning a sigh from me. "Pro: that shrapnel in your chest was translated into some of the metals. Con: the reactor can't be removed."

"Pro: not dying if the reactor gets pulled," I added, and Mina chuckled smartly over her speakers.

"True enough, Andy."

"Head?" I ask instead.

"That's the five-percent increase," Mina continued, banishing away the rest of the hologram and magnifying my very own brain. Though it didn't look much like a brain anymore, except in shape and liquid-looking substance. "As far as I can tell, it's becoming a lot like the hardware my primary consciousness is focused into. You can process information nearly tenfold of a normal human, though not so fast as a supercomputer. I put that down to the way you process, rather than the serum."

"So all the other special powers I've gotten?" I asked. "I think I heard Tony's email get into my inbox before I saw it."

"That's part of the improvement to your intakes," Mina clarified. "Like the inner-ear Bluetooth you have now, you've developed…information receivers, of a sort. I'm monitoring them to make sure you don't get overflow, but they've been becoming more refined."

"Pro: information gathering on my own, like how I was syncing up to satellites and such to track everything," I noted before waving my hand to clear the hologram and get the lights back up. "Con: I really don't want to overhear people on their cell phones."

"Pro: you have me to deal with those," Mina said, and I chuckled a little. "So, you get going, it's a four-day trip to Malibu and I've already got mark seven deployed on your bike."

"Just in case this Mandarin thing gets out of hand," I sighed. "Just glad the public doesn't know about the other six bombings."

I didn't like it when Fury sent me the Mandarin file; I had felt cold and dead when the Mandarin first hijacked the networks to announce the first public bombing, giving his first "lesson". I had seen the Ten Rings logo on the color bars, and when I called in mine and Tony's old friend James Rhodes it turned out he had been tasked to aid in the hunt. I'd done some investigating of my own: the Ten Rings were keeping their heads down, not even moving right now. I had given them a hell of a thrashing before the palladium reactors started failing, and obviously I had crippled them enough that it was impossible for a bin Laden-esque leader to be pulling off these bombings. Officially I was going to be on vacation from all SHIELD and Avenger work; unofficially I was on-call to blow the Mandarin sky high.

"Nevertheless, it's going to be your first SHIELD-funded vacation," Mina told me as she eased off the blackout mode, revealing all the lights of New York winking at me. "It's one you deserve; you've been running for, what, four years now?"

"…something like that," I answered as I climbed upstairs to my bedroom. I had moved out from Tony's place in Malibu after he signed over the tower to me and SHIELD, so my hacking nexus stood in the center of my room. A duffel bag was perched on the nearest desk, my bike jacket draped on one of the screens. Really last week had been the fourth anniversary of mine and Tony's capture in Afghanistan; for some reason I felt like I was still in that dark place, begging Tony not to leave me, to not die before me so I didn't have to be alone. I'd changed a lot since then. We both had. But I couldn't shake a bad feeling.

I looked up and found my gaze on a little vanity mirror I had clipped onto one of the desks I worked at. The one thing Mina hadn't included in the hologram scan of me was a scar around my eye, faded from the purple it had once been to a more normal-looking reddish color. It was a little souvenir from the trip through the wormhole with Tony, from the alien thing that had no doubt encouraged Loki into attacking Earth. Before then, Loki had threatened me with the destruction of everything I loved, and most especially Tony.

The bad feeling was that defeating Loki wasn't going to save him. But I had to hope otherwise.

I felt the elevator coming up to the penthouse long before I heard the door slide open. I hefted my bag and jacket and could help a smile to see my now-steady boyfriend there in the living room, grinning up at me warmly. Even if technically Captain Steve Rogers was old enough to be my father if he hadn't died he neither looked nor acted that way, especially when I came down the stairs to drop my bag and get folded warmly against his chest.

"Heading out west?" he asked while still hugging me, and I sighed a little.

"Yeah; it's Tony, and it'll be our third real Christmas together," I replied. "Plus someone has to make sure he doesn't do something really stupid."

"Like?"

"…something that is very Tony; I can't explain very well," I sighed, but it got Steve to laugh softly before he turned me loose and offered me a farewell kiss. Oh, yeah.

"Then get back here for New Year's; I'm looking forward to having someone here with me," he said hopefully when he pulled back. His arms were still around my waist, and my arms were conveniently settled on his shoulders.

"You just want to kiss me at midnight," I teased, and Steve's smile made me forget about my worries about Tony, the Mandarin, and my bad feelings about the near-future. Christmas in Malibu and New Year's in New York sounded fantastic; it was the perfect way to spend my vacation. I even got a perfect sending-off when Steve took my bag and jacket, then walked me down to my bike. I got another goodbye kiss before getting on my bike helmet, and I waved before driving out of the underground lot and onto the streets.

I didn't know it then, but I must have somehow sensed that none of my plans for the holidays were going to go right. Whenever I let Mina drive the bike so I could sleep in the saddle I dreamed about the wormhole, the Chitauri base, and the man in the throne. I could swear I heard his voice again.

_**It has begun**_.


	2. 1: Reunion

**1: Reunion**

_Then: Casa Stark, Malibu, California_

Not riding my bike through snowy landscapes on the highway was a great relief; it was my one problem with living in New York now, not to mention not being able to keep an eye on my semi-crazy older brother. Thankfully the exterior of his house hadn't been blown out, or covered in lurid and tacky Christmas decorations, so I was able to breathe a sigh of relief as I easily rode up to the gate and stopped at the security station. Even though it was late in the night, I knew Tony's security system would still be up, and even if I could hack through it I didn't want to wake him up.

"Hey, Jarvy, come on, I'm not a security threat," I told the box, which flashed in recognition as Tony's AI, Jarvis, noticed my voiceprint and brought his attention to me.

"Welcome _home_, Miss Andy, and I must say it is a relief that you've returned for the holiday," he sighed by way of greeting. I tugged off my helmet and tucked it behind me; Jarvis sounding that tired was both new and a bad sign. "Your brother is in the garage, and I will attempt to notify him of your arrival."

I frowned a little as I pulled the sleeve of my jacket up, checking my watch: 0230, and that was Malibu time.

"He's still up?"

"Miss Andy, he has been awake for seventy-two hours."

"…that is the third least-healthiest thing he can do," I told Jarvis crisply, and I could imagine him nodding, had he been the living Jarvis that had lived in the Long Island mansion when Tony and I had been kids. "Okay, the new garage is still open for me to drive down into, right?"

"That it is, though I would recommend not descending quickly," Jarvis advised as the gate in front of me opened. "Both for Mister Stark's, and your own, safety."

"Noted," I replied before revving my bike's engine and cruising up the curving drive. The main house lights weren't on, but as I rode around past the front door I saw the garage light was. I made sure to give a warning rev as I coasted towards the ramp and slid down into the garage, which was also Tony's workshop. After he had torn up the entire house to make a particle accelerator that had made the new cores for our reactors, Tony and I had started remodeling the garage space. It now had two levels, primary and secondary, and was able to fit not just Tony's main car of the moment and all of his tools and equipment, but also my bike, exercise equipment, a wine cellar, and a secure vault to make sure any prototype suits stayed locked up. Even though Rhodey and the War Machine had worked out all right in the end, Tony had become excessively anal about securing his other suits. My security was simple: I had Mina destroy all my old suits so no one could take the tech and turn it against us.

I didn't see Tony immediately as I turned my bike to park next to his newest Audi sportscar, but I did notice two tables filled with what looked like suit pieces, tools, and a pair of record players that were linked like a DJ deck. I killed the engine just in time to hear a hypodermic needle and Tony grumbling in pain.

"Sir, I require at least two hours to calibrate the motion sensors," Jarvis was trying to say, but Tony was, of course, paying absolutely no attention. I turned in my seat to watch him finish off the injections, and as he was dabbing his arm he looked up and grinned at me.

"Nice of you to turn up, and in time for the main event!" Tony greeted me brightly. Even though Jarvis had warned me Tony hadn't slept for three days he certainly didn't look sleep-deprived. I made sure to get up off my bike so he could scurry over and hug me tight.

"Like I was going to leave you all alone for Christmas, and…whatever it is you're up to," I replied over his shoulder, glad to not find Tony as insane as he usually was. Once he let me go I took the arm he'd been stabbing into and found a neat line of holes, some of which were still bleeding but not freely. "And it requires four inoculations within a span of five minutes?"

"Y'know that neural linkup tracking stuff you were working on before you got all super-special and whatever?" Tony asked before bounding over towards the testing arena, which sat on the other side of the tables, in front of seven suits, two of which were reproductions and the remaining five had been repaired from battle damage. These were the suits I was most familiar with, Mark I through VII, four years of work and tinkering on Tony's part from the Mark I we'd built in Afghanistan. I nodded in answer to his question, and he continued though he hadn't seen it. "Well, I think I've got it figured out. Got a prehensile suit prototype, and I just got the motion sensors injected into me."

"Okay, let's see if it works," I replied with a grin, hefting my duffel bag off my bike and following him at a much slower pace. Watching Tony work was always an interesting experience, to say the very least. I found someplace to drop my stuff in relative safety and settled in near You, one of the two robots that helped maintain the lab. Tony threw me a thumbs-up once he was settled on the test platform, and then turned to the seven suits.

"Ladies, good evening and welcome to the birthing suite," he began with his typical dry humor and a bow to me and the suits. I rolled my eyes in reply, but Tony didn't comment. "I am pleased to announce the _imminent_ arrival of your bouncing, badass, baby brother."

"Just what I needed, another brother," I cracked, and it got Tony to grin as he turned back around.

"Jarvis, drop my needle!" he insisted, and the record players came to life, mixing a smooth dance beat to a classic recording of Jingle Bells. I smothered a laugh as Tony grooved a bit to the intro, then got serious as the actual song started. With a quick motion, Tony snapped up a closed fist and extended his right hand towards one of the tables.

Nothing happened. He tried it again, and there was still no movement.

"Dammit," Tony muttered, licking the hole closest to his wrist a little.

"Want me to jolt it a bit, might help it calibrate," I offered, but Tony waved me off.

"Nah, we're good, just gotta do this a bit," he muttered. He smacked the inside of his wrist a couple times before nodding in satisfaction, then repeated his motion. On the table he was gesturing towards, a collapsed gauntlet suddenly glowed to life, then flew at Tony. It secured around his extended hand, soon followed by a shoulder piece. Both expanded and soon encased his right arm.

"Nice, very nice!" I called out, definitely impressed by Tony's work. I had been experimenting with this six months ago, but I had tried to see if someone other than Tony could solve the problem, with no success. I had gotten it fixed with the supersoldier serum our parents had made and left for me, so I hadn't really thought about coming back to that project for Tony's sake. "Okay, other hand, let's see the other hand."

"Doin' it, Andster," Tony replied, turning to the other table and reversing his earlier motion, extending his left hand this time. The matching gauntlet flew at him and folded around his other hand, and I applauded as Tony grinned at me proudly.

"All right, cool, let's send 'em all," Tony said, waving both his armored hands with a hang-ten gesture. I moved back to watch as a boot secured to Tony's leg, extending smoothly, but a piece suddenly flew off a table and into the glass protecting the Mark VI. Uh oh.

"Hey, how about slowing those down?!" I asked, managing to dodge out of the way of a randomly flying piece that nearly smashed into me.

"Working on it!" Tony reported, but with what little grace he could manage he turned and twisted to catch the flying armor parts on his body. Once I was able to get out of the way I was able to watch with some appreciation, but the faceplate crashed into the table with the players, jerking the music off and crashing at my feet. I would have picked it up if it hadn't shot up of its own accord, "looking" at me before turning around to Tony.

"Hey, come on," Tony told the mask. "I ain't afraid of you."

If a part of the suit could be smart, that mask sure was, because it fired at Tony, turning around and prepping to smack him right in the face. With a surprising bit of aerial acrobatics Tony flipped over, catching the mask perfectly over his face, and landed in a fight pose that made me grin and applaud.

"That wasn't bad, Tony, wasn't bad at all," I complimented him, but that was premature. The armor piece that had lodged into the Mark VI's display suddenly hurtled at Tony, crashing into his back and not only sent him sprawling to the floor but totally disengaged the armor. I darted forward to help Tony up, but I was fighting down laughter. That suit had as much quirk as its maker.

"As always, sir, it is always a privilege to watch you work," Jarvis snarked once I got the mask off Tony's face, startled to find that he'd taken a hard enough hit to the face that the corner of his mouth was bloody. I got the rest of the helmet off and found some towels to mop him up.

"…okay maybe seventy-two hours is awhile without a siesta," Tony muttered, though he didn't fight my ministrations. I glanced at him, smirking faintly, but I was startled when Tony looked away from me.

"…no kidding," I replied to his comment, but I was worried. The last time he'd avoided meeting my gaze was when we had both been dying of palladium poisoning and he'd got it into his head that he had to act like nothing was wrong, even around me. I took his shoulder and tried to get him to look at me. "What's wrong? You know you can tell me, it's not like either of us is dying…"

"Just can't sleep," Tony replied quickly, but I smacked the back of his head. There's one way to tell when Tony is trying to lie with a straight face: his brows quirk up, ever so slightly, and I had definitely seen that.

"All of it."

Tony sighed heavily, but I stayed right there, waiting for his answer. For seeing him for the first time in half a year, I was surprised to see how much Tony had changed: though his eyes still gleamed with wit and charm it wasn't as apparent as it had been. His face was more weathered, not with age but with experience, and, in a way, it seemed to be a much truer face than it had been four years ago. Tony rubbed at his face a little as he found his words.

"…ever since New York," he said, and I knew which part of New York he meant. "I can't sleep. If I do I have…nightmares. Going through. Falling."

I rubbed Tony's back slowly, my heart aching for him. I hadn't been plagued by those dreams; when it came to what I had done, joining him in dumping the nuke right into the Chitauri base on the other side of the portal, I had no guilt. But for Tony I didn't doubt it was different. He'd nearly lost me, and had nearly died on top of it. And what we'd seen over there, the huge mass of aliens coming for us…it was enough to give anyone nightmares. He leaned against my shoulder, an arm easing around me, and I gladly tightened my grip around him.

"…and you see the scar and you _know_ it's not your fault," I told him, and I was glad to hear Tony chuckle.

"Yeah, I know. But…the thing that gave it to you is still out there, and he's gonna come for you. And what if I can't –"

"Tony, I'm more worried about protecting _you_," I interrupted him, leaning my cheek on his shoulder. "You worry about your girlfriend and I'll worry about the both of us. Remember, my promise is still valid."

Tony didn't reply, but he did kiss my head, and I smiled as he held me close. This was the brother I had always loved, not the grade-A jerk he could sometimes still be. Maybe the rest of the world would get to see him that way, too.

"…all right, fine, I guess I'll try to get…three hours," Tony sighed, but he let me get up first before he straightened up himself.

"Want me to camp out with you for tonight?" I offered, moving to pick up my duffel and slinging it over my shoulder. "I know, Pepper's with you in your room now, but…y'know…"

I didn't have to mention the why of it. After Mom had died, I hadn't been able to sleep, either, too miserable and if I did I dreamed about Mom leaving me. On those nights when I was crying in my sleep Tony had gotten into my room, climbed into my bed, and held me all the rest of the night. Tony knew what I meant, and the look he managed to give me was all the answer I needed.

"Just make sure Pepper knows, I don't want her to think of that HBO series with the incest twins…"

Tony snorted and grinned at that. I grinned right back, and as we headed upstairs Tony stayed close to me, the both of us being quiet so we didn't disturb Pepper. I settled in a nice big leather chair to crash, and I smiled to hear a sleeping Pepper move to hold Tony as he slid into bed with her.

I would've fallen asleep if Mina hadn't pinged me. Another bombing. Another appearance of the Mandarin.

So much for getting some sleep tonight.


	3. 2: First Sparks

**2: First Sparks**

The bombing had hit a military base; the Mandarin not only took credit, but rather stupidly praised himself for it. But because of that stupid self-praise, I knew that this was not a typical Mandarin attack. Sure, it looked like one – sort of – but three very public bombings and six more under the radar? Supremely public wasn't Ten Rings' style. So instead of getting the sleep I should have gotten, I stayed down in the garage, examining my datafile from SHIELD. Thankfully Jarvis had even tapped the Department of Defense and the FBI to add to what I had, so I examined the global map he had projected over the suit wall, chin cradled in my hand.

"Okay, Jarvis, what do we know, lay out the comparison between this one and the others," I ordered him.

"Miss Andy, I am certain your own data-sifting capabilities would be able to compensate for that on their own," Jarvis snarked a little, and I couldn't help a smirk.

"I know you need your sleep, too, Jarvy, but this isn't fitting in. Help me out here and then I'll go sleep, promise."

Jarvis sighed, but I knew he was going to play along; he knew how important this was, after all. The marks for the nine bombings – and the most recent highlighted in yellow – flashed at me brightly. Collapsed information indices were attached to each site, and I accessed these as Jarvis spoke.

"Each bombing shown follows a similar modus operandi; a bomb is left in a large public area and detonated. Of the nine bombings, only three are publicly known – as you know, of course. The three public bombings, however, have one thing uncommon with the other six."

"Which is?" I asked teasingly.

"While the FBI and DoD believe all the bombings do not leave remnant bomb parts, my close examination of SHIELD files on these six previous attacks have found several pieces. I've made sure to alert SHIELD of my findings."

"Smart, Jarvis. But the three publics?"

I waved off the six other bombings from the map, zooming in on the others. Jarvis expanded his indices to show details and profiling, and I paced the map slightly, thinking.

"The more public bombings that match the Mandarin profile have zero parts remaining from the bombs."

"Any other correlating data?"

"None as of yet; I shall continue my examinations and will alert you if I find anything."

"Just keep to the Mandarin profile and there'll be something," I told him. "If there's a copycat of the Rings, I want to know. Having two terrorist groups running around blowing people up would not make for a good day."

"I sympathize fully, Miss Andy. Might I recommend you proceed upstairs and rest?"

"Advice noted and taken, thanks Jarvy, good night, Jarvy," I told him as I shut down the map and most of the rest of the garage before traipsing upstairs. I didn't like what I was hearing; if six of the bombings were the real Rings (which they seemed to be), then who had caused the other three? Who was their Mandarin?

"Mina, do something for me," I noted under my breath, trying to stay quiet for Tony and Pepper.

"And that is?"

"I need you to look at any and all Mandarin tapes, see if they're all the same or if there's something off about them. Mostly the Mandarin's talking patterns."

"…why would I want to watch a monomaniacal terrorist preach like some crazed televangelist?"

"Mina!"

"What, I'm just saying…"

"Patterns. If there's lapses. Because if there's someone else behind some of these bombings and using the Rings to pin the blame, then their Mandarin can't be the Mandarin."

"Unless the Mandarin is no one at all."

"…true, good point, so go check that while I get some sleep."

"All right, but I don't have to like it."

"It's called keeping Tony from going completely off his rocker," I noted before I tapped my ear to cut off Mina's complaints. She was still a little too smart for her own good, but I'd decided not to scrub her memory. Even though Mina seemed sure I could handle the amounts of data I seemed to be able to absorb, I preferred having her manage it. When I'd first "fallen" into that dataflow I hadn't been able to get myself out of it; only Mina had been able to get me out of it and put me back inside my own brain. One of the numerous cons of being a walking computer of sorts.

Per Tony's silent requests I headed back for his and Pepper's room, doing my best to stay quiet as I stepped inside. Pepper's back was to me when I came in, snuggled up to Tony. The man himself seemed at least somewhat at peace with his dreams for once, but I still settled in the big leather chair that was close to his side of the bed, watching him sleep a bit. He still looked as if he was worn out, but at least he didn't look scared or anxious. I sighed as I flopped into the chair and stretched slowly. I wasn't looking forward to telling Tony about it when he woke up.

* * *

"It passed well with the focus groups, all right?" Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes groaned later in the day after the three of us – me, him, and Tony – had met up at a beachside bar to put our heads together on the Mandarin stuff. Tony was holding down a smirk behind his shades, but I couldn't help a few choked snickers. We'd just seen a news report on President Willis's response to the recent Mandarin-sorta attack, and he'd revealed Rhodey's "retasking". Of course Tony had let him keep the original Mark II, though there had been tinkering and experimentation before War Machine had been officially given over to the US military and left us alone with the rest of the suits. However, after this, Willis had gotten the _superb_ idea of redesigning War Machine. Now Rhodey was the Iron Patriot, which was nowhere _near_ as awesome as War Machine.

"I am Iron Patriot," Tony gruffed in a passable imitation of his voice coming through a suit speaker, and I laughed so hard I nearly coughed up the swallow of Sprite I'd just gotten down. Rhodey shook his head but grinned anyway. "So, come on, talk to me, what's going on? You know I can help, just say the word!"

"And by 'I' he means 'we'," I amended once I'd gotten my giggles under control, and Tony smiled at me angelically.

"Besides, I've got a prehensile suit prototype, y'know, flying bomb disposal!"

"…you'd lose that suit…"

"Yeah, so? I can make another one…"

Rhodey rolled his eyes at us but leaned forward. Tony pried off his shades and did his best to look nonchalant as Rhodey warned him about the other six bombings. I was distracted by a call that hit my ear. Sigh.

"You two talk, I'll take this," I muttered, pressing my finger to my ear to take the call. "Andy."

"What, you come home for the holidays and you don't tell _me_?" Happy Hogan asked me incredulously, and I tried not to laugh out loud. Happy had been Tony's driver and bodyguard of several years, at least up until Loki's attack. Since then, I had figured Happy stayed around but hadn't been at the house. "I mean, okay, yeah, I got work and everything –"

"Work where? Hap, you know I'd never forget you, you taught me…ten percent of my fighting style…" I quipped under my breath, though he'd hear it clearly. Another perk of being me.

"Yeah, ha ha, laugh it up," he retorted, though I knew he appreciated the subtle thanks. "Head of security at the company now, thanks to Pepper. You should come by, other-boss, it'll be great."

"What, I'm your other boss now? Does this mean you're going to be _my_ bodyguard and driver now? What's that gonna do to your rep, I wonder."

"Hey, not funny. Be here in thirty, I'll get you a security badge lined up. Bike, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be normal and boring," I told him. "Don't think you can get me a parking permit for the suit."

If Hap replied, I didn't hear it; Tony and Rhodey had gotten back to arguing about Tony supplying help in the Mandarin hunt. The problem was, two kids had appeared between me and Tony.

"I'm not trying to be a dick –" Rhodey had been saying, but I kicked him at the same time I jabbed Tony in the shoulder. Rhodey noticed the kids first and managed to correct 'dick' to 'dictator'. Kid-friendly table now. The little girl was holding a piece of paper and shyly looking between me and Tony, her little brother just behind her. Tony turned and offered them both smiles.

"Mister'n Miss Stark, will you sign my picture, please?" the little girl asked, setting the paper down on the table along with a bright purple crayon.

"Sure thing; who should we sign to?" I asked, taking the crayon. I had noticed the subject matter of the picture right away: two figures, one red-and-gold, the other black, holding tight to a white sausage-shaped thing heading for a large blue-rimmed black spot above towers that were no doubt supposed to be New York. Tony's eyes flickered down to the picture and looked away quickly, uneasily, back to Rhodey for a moment.

"Yeah, you don't mind, right, Dick?" Tony asked Rhodey, who took it all in stride. The girl told me her name, Erin, and I tried to take my time in writing, _Excellent work and all the best, AJ Stark_, just to give Tony a chance to collect himself. Last thing we needed was him freaking out in front of these two little fans. I knew Tony loved his youngest fans, so I was doing my best as I passed him the crayon. He took one last moment to try and distract himself, confusing Erin's brother with the kid from _A Christmas Story_, before starting to write. My focus was on Tony, and even though Rhodey was trying to talk to Tony about said events in New York I saw Tony's stress building. I tried to silently warn Rhodey off from his current subject, but I was more distracted by what Tony was writing to Erin:

_Erin, HELP ME._

Everything suddenly went on silent. I knew Tony was having trouble, from what he'd told me last night, but this was worse than I could have thought. I tried to reach over to his shoulder, but that would have meant pushing Erin away. I knew Rhodey was taking the opportunity to try and ask about New York, and I tried to kick at him again, to make him stop, but too late. Tony was shaking hard enough that the crayon broke under his fingers, and I was able to grab at Tony's hand, trying to assure him I was there, that it was okay…

Erin's little brother leaned in to Tony, and I tried to reach out and stop him. Too late; he was close enough for Tony to hear, "How did you get out of the wormhole?"

Tony ripped his hand out of mine, shoved away from the table in a panic, and bolted for the door. I managed to mumble a rapid apology to Erin before running after him, calling his name and trying to get him to stop. He didn't until he was in the Mark VII, down on one knee and shaking, even through the plates. I ducked down next to him, staying on the side that would have him not see the scar first.

"Tony, Tony, listen to me, listen, breathe, okay, just breathe," I told him as evenly as I could. I couldn't tell him I was scared. "It's okay, it's fine…"

"…anxiety attack?" he whispered to me. "Me?"

I hugged around his shoulders tight, even with the armor.

"…you just have to push on, okay, Tony, please, it's okay, trust me," I tried to say. "Just breathe, just move on –"

"…gotta go," he muttered, and before Rhodey could come after us Tony pulled away from me slowly and fired into the air. I watched him go, kneeling in the parking area, biting my lip uneasily. This was bad; if Tony was having trouble with even hearing about last summer, how would that affect him if we went after the Mandarin?

"Where is he?!" Rhodey asked, looking around and coming down next to me. "What the hell is going _on_?"

"…next time you want to hear about those alien freaks, you talk to me, Rhodey," I told him, trying not to snap but I did. "He isn't able to talk about it yet."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he questioned, but I got to my feet and turned for my bike.

"It means you leave him alone when it comes to that topic," I retorted, swinging on and kicking the ignition. "You focus on what you do best, and we'll do the same."

"Andy, wait!" Rhodey called over the roar of the engine, but I revved up and got in gear before pulling out. I didn't have the time to wait; Tony was in pain and, other than me, only one other person was going to understand that.

"Mina, call Hap. Tell him to move my appointment with him to forty-five, I'm on the way. I need to see Pepper, too. Maybe she'll be able to help me deal with this."

"Should I look into anti-anxiety medication?"

"For Tony?"

"No, for you."

"Mina!"


	4. 3: A Meeting of the Minds

**3: A Meeting of the Minds**

_Now: Avengers Tower_

"At least you had the right response when he panicked," Bruce commended me. By this point, I was stretched out on a lounger and Bruce was perched in a chair. It was nearly a psychiatrist-patient setup, but thankfully he wasn't that kind of doctor. "If he'd listened to you, it might not have been that bad the later times."

"If Mina was right when she told me how hiding out with Tony in Rose Hill had been, he got even worse," I grumbled. "So at least I tried before the other attacks happened."

"…so then why weren't you around?"

"That's later in the story, not by a lot, but, y'know, later," I told him. "Geez, I'm telling you the story, I just have to get all the events in line."

"Okay, okay," Bruce agreed, raising his hands in surrender. "So, you left the bar after Tony, headed elsewhere…"

"Right. Hap called right before Tony freaked, and I figured there's only one other person who could help me get him to, well, talk it out. So I headed over to the company to get a quick meeting with the other CEO…."

* * *

_Then: Stark Industries, Los Angeles_

"And here's your badge!" Hap insisted as he got a metal clip over a flap of my biker jacket, the V designating me as a visitor glaring off my chest. I looked down at it, then up at him.

"…you can't be serious."

"Hey, new security protocols, you don't like it you can talk to Pepper when you get back home," he pointed out, and I scowled a bit as I tugged off my shades. I had a feeling that Hap being head of security for Stark Industries, while a great post for him that saved his masculine pride from forever being Iron Man's bodyguard, was not going over well with the rest of the staff. This theory proved correct when Hap walked me into the main offices; people tried to move away from him, and everywhere he went he tapped his own badge, as if reminding everyone else they'd better have their badges on, too. Oh, boy.

"Somehow I think you might've been happier staying with Tony, Hogan," I quipped right before I caught sight of a white suit and red-gold hair pulled up in a ponytail. Either Hap hadn't heard me or elected to ignore me, because he strode right for the other CEO of Stark Industries and Tony's year-and-a-half-steady girlfriend Pepper Potts. I kept my distance and found my way to a nearby conference room, hoping Hap would swing her that way to meet me. My heading that way, though, was a bad idea. I was about to push the door open and settle in when I noticed a gray-green plaid suit standing a few feet in front of me, and I brought my gaze up quickly to find a tall, well-built man with longish blonde hair and a perfect pearly-white smile that he offered me.

"Andy Stark, long time, no see," he greeted me, and even his voice indicated I should know him. I _knew_ I had met this guy before, but something about him seemed off. He noticed it, too. "Of course, you wouldn't recognize me, it's been...wow, it has to have been about thirty years ago, now."

I ran numbers and silently accessed class rosters from MIT when I was there. Like Tony, I'd been a kid genius, and of course all kid geniuses go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, especially in the early nineteen-eighties. I checked and reviewed some more before finding a picture that _was_ the man standing in front of me, but _wasn't_ at the same time. But that whole search only took a couple of seconds, and I managed a small smile despite recalling a little better why I hadn't remembered him as immediately.

"Aldtrich, right? Or do you prefer Killian, now? I hear going by surnames is a great way to avoid an embarrassing first name," I noted, getting Killian to laugh softly.

"No, you haven't changed at all," he replied. "Still as sharp as your brother, and your wit even sharper."

"Well, you know me, I can't stand competition," I retorted.

Why I hadn't remembered Aldritch Killian right away comprised of two main factors. The first was, in MIT, Killian had been, to put it nicely, a young mind put in an old body. He had a hunched back, he limped, and trying to get him to talk clearly was a chore, especially if he got distracted or stressed out. The Killian standing in front of me thirty years later wasn't the same Killian from MIT, straight-back, with a long, easy stride, and a voice as smooth as Tony's, though I couldn't help but sense a certain sliminess more common of a businessman than an inventive workaholic. The second factor? In the year after Tony had graduated, while I was doing my senior thesis on the original Trinity interface, Killian had asked me out on numerous occasions. Every time, I had turned him down, mostly because I was busy working but also because I had no reason to really like the guy. He and Tony had never really been friends, either, so I was already disinclined to him. Now that I had a real boyfriend and a near-full-time job of saving the world, I was hoping and praying Killian wasn't going to try and get jealous of Tony or me. As far as I could tell, he was still _very_ single.

Killian looked like he was about to say something to me, but he glanced just past my shoulder as the door opened behind me. I turned to move out of the way and managed to stifle a relieved sigh as Pepper came in. What surprised me, though, was that _she_ looked surprised to see Killian there, and she recognized him a lot faster than I had.

Note to self: never ever tell Tony his girlfriend knows Killian.

"I'm glad the both of you are here," Killian said once Pepper had waved off a very uneasy Hap. "I have a little _idea_ from my think tank that I'd like to share with you both. Please, sit, sit…"

This was _not_ what I had planned for my afternoon, and it was obvious Pepper hadn't been expecting me and was now distracted by Killian. Still, we both sat down, and I watched Killian's presentation, on behalf of his group. I noted the name to myself – Advanced Idea Mechanics – and directed a search for any information as Killian performed his pitch. I'm pretty sure my being there prevented him from trying to come onto Pepper – which would have been awkward to explain to Tony – but he still tried to flirt with the both of us as he talked about the human brain acting like a computer, how it was meant to be upgraded, and the solution he had, called Extremis, which could be used to do just that. Extremis was another term I cross-referenced, though I had to stifle a wince as I hit a secure firewall in AIM's mainframe. Ow. Had to get Mina in there to do that, then.

At the end of his pitch, though, Killian turned up the charm.

"Now, I know that, if Tony were still CEO, he would turn me down, I even offered him a spot with AIM thirteen years ago and he refused," Killian began, which encouraged a slight frown to etch my face. "But now that there are two _very_ different geniuses sharing the throne –"

"Killian, it's an excellent thought," Pepper stepped in first, obviously to soften whatever blow I was bound to make, knowing her and knowing me. "But this…Extremis…sounds like it could be highly weaponizable, and Tony –"

"Is not in charge," Killian tried to insist, but before he could speak again I stepped in.

"Four years ago my brother said that Stark Industries is no longer in the weapons business," I told Killian firmly, forcing his attention onto me and away from Pepper. "I can see the civilian applications for Extremis, don't get me wrong; I'm guessing, what, an early prototype is what you got? 'Cause thirty years ago you _definitely_ weren't this good-looking."

"Andy," Pepper tried to warn me as Killian's expression tightened fractionally. I knew what I was saying, though, and glanced over at Pepper so she knew I wasn't about to go off the reservation with him.

"…but if, as you say, Extremis can augment the human body in any way, depending on the programming after initial development, that tells me that you can inject it into a soldier, make him stronger and faster, maybe give him an offensive ability. But if that got out of our hands, say someone just _slipped_ and a sample got away and into someone who means more harm than good. That's what happened with our former Jericho missile system and the Ten Rings four years ago. Someone slipped, and tremendous power got into enemy hands. So, no, Killian. We're not going to develop Extremis. Right, Pepper?"

Pepper nodded firmly in agreement, but Killian didn't seem disturbed by our flat rejection at all. He nodded and smiled and thanked us for our time, gave us his card in case we changed our minds, and Pepper offered to walk him out. I glanced back as they left, and I saw Hap on a tablet, which he hurriedly set aside, and once all three were out of sight I groaned.

"…Mina, tell me Hap didn't just call Tony on Skype and warned him about Killian…"

"Oh, he did. I'm sure you and Pepper can handle it, though," Mina tried to reassure me, but I moaned instead. Tony was naturally protective of me, but I knew from experience he could be equally fierce when it came to Pepper. Hearing about Killian trying to flirt with her, and probably with me to a lesser extent, would send him into protection mode. At least Steve hadn't been here to hear about it, either. "I also have some dirt on AIM, I you want me to fill you in on the way back."

"Yes, I'd like that very much," I told her. "Also try and get into their secure database and find anything you can on Extremis. I want details, their experimentation trials, _names_."

"Can do! They should be fun to crack," Mina told me wickedly as I got up and headed for the front doors, too. I would have waved at Pepper again if she hadn't being going a different direction, no doubt back to her office, and I frowned a little as I stepped outside next to Hap. For once, the man actually looked pensive, brows folded and considering something.

"…are you about to go secret agent on us, Hogan?" I asked him as I came up alongside. I followed his gaze to a departing black Range Rover, and I figured Killian had to be inside.

"That guy rubs me wrong," he told me. "Him _and_ his little detail that he brought along."

"You got the plate?"

"Yep."

"Good. If you find anything, let me know. Also, I clear you to tap any phone numbers that plate is attached to."

"Thanks, boss."

"You're welcome, Hogan."

Whatever Killian was up to, I was going to find out and shut it down. Maybe I wasn't supposed to be working for the holidays, but flags were going up and I was determined to get rid of them before Christmas. More importantly, I had to keep an ear to the ground with Mandarin _and_ keep Tony from panicking every damned time New York came up. It was not the greatest docket to be working on, but if I had wanted easy I would have stayed away from Tony.

While Hogan went to work his angle and Mina had hers, I took my bike back to Casa Stark, though Pepper soon caught up to me and we made a very impromptu little motorcade on the PCH. My hopes of not seeing tacky Christmas decorations died as soon as we pulled up, and I pried off my helmet the same time Pepper got out of her office Audi as we both stared. For some reason and within three hours, Tony had gotten a massive rabbit ordered and placed on the driveway, and had even gotten a red bow on it with a tag on the front declaring MERRY CHRISTMAS PEPPER.

"…this is not the worst thing Tony has done for a Christmas prank…at least I hope it's a prank…" I muttered uncomfortably.

"It could be a lot worse," Pepper agreed as we headed for the front doors and went inside. Apparently Tony had busied himself with decorating, though it manifested more obviously in the form of a sparkling Christmas tree and a few more candles than usual. But I hadn't been expecting seeing him in his newest suit sitting on the sofa, obviously waiting for us and lounged back comfortably. Um. That wasn't normal.

"…and you're dressed up _why_?" I asked, earning a shrug in reply.

"Felt like it! Besides, it's not like it's uncomfortable like this…"

"And that's, what, mark fifteen by now?" Pepper asked, smiling warmly anyway as she settled on her usual ottoman to look over the mail, setting aside her case.

"Er, something like that," Tony replied, checking something on his arm before getting up and walking over to her. "Y'know, now that I think about it, it's a little tight in the –"

"If you try to make a clever word to talk about _that area_ I'm walking away," I called as I headed for the kitchen to get a pre-dinner snack. I knew Tony would finish his sentence as soon as I was gone, which was fine by me so long as I didn't have to hear it. Not to mention that while Tony flirting with Pepper could be painful or sweet depending on the situation, now that they were 'official' I didn't want to hear anything suggestive or weird in case it somehow rubbed off on me and it weirded out Steve when I got back to New York. Agh. Nope, not going to think about it.

I was surprised, though, that Hap got back to me before Mina did. The call from him made a pinging in my head, and I was surprised enough to actually answer.

"Hap?"

"I ran the plates and got a phone tap. It's not Killian, but it's his security buddy that came with him," he said without preamble. "He just made a call, meetin' someone at Grauman's Chinese Theater tonight."

"You're not goin' alone, Hap, not if one or both are Killian's pets," I warned him. "I'll have my suit and be eyes up high for you, but don't you even _think_ of going solo."

"Okay, okay, not going alone," Hap agreed reluctantly. "Just be in touch so I don't do something stupid and think I _am_ on my own out there."

"I'll do my best, Hap, don't stress. Tell Mina the details, I'll meet you there."

He grumbled a bit, but I closed my end of the line and got out of the kitchen to venture in the garage…only to find Tony there and not in the suit. Uh. Awkward.

"…you were hitting on Pepper with the suit while you were down here?"

"This's the epitome of _lame_," Pepper added, not impressed by Tony in his headset watching multiple news feeds while working out. He dropped down apologetically, wincing a little at us both. "You even ate without us!"

"I had things to work on, I – I'm trying to keep track of this psycho with the bombs!" Tony tried to excuse, but looks from the both of us made him sigh in defeat. "Okay, okay, I get it, I'm…I'm a pipin' hot _mess_, and just…"

Finally. I nodded for him to continue, trying to subtly nod to Pepper, who was starting to look concerned. Tony took a moment to gather his thoughts, shifting uneasily, and I went over to rub his shoulders, to help him keep calm and not freak out again.

"…nothin's been the same since New York," he began, with the obvious point. "You experience things and then…they're _over_. I can't sleep, and when I do, I have nightmares. Honestly, there's probably hundreds of people who wanna kill me, and…and I don't know if I can protect the things I care about most. And that's you. Both of you."

My shoulder rub turned into a tight hug around Tony's front, and he turned to kiss my cheek gratefully. Pepper looked more sympathetic, though I knew she was going to tease a little to get him feeling better.

"I'm going to have a shower."

"…uh…okay…"

Pepper paused on the stairs up.

"And you're going to join me."

"…that's the part where I hide and plug my ears, have fun, love you," I said, kissing Tony back before hurrying up the stairs again. See what I mean, them being serious? I swear.


End file.
